Not bad for a one man show. NVDL right now is just 28 places below Mail & Guardian's Thought Leader (with something like 30 bloggers - errr...I have just visited the site and counted the bloggers, I thought 30 might be an exaggeration. Turns out the bloggers are alphabetised and there are already over 100 of them), in Amatomu's News & Politics category. NVDL is continuously snapping at the heels of blogs that are backed and promoted by entire publishing houses. It's quite funny to think that a sexy photo on my blog is competing with Zimbabwe election: Is Mbeki really delusional? and comments about a Saturday bike race might be drawing eyeballs away from Rabies scare hit EL.
What is news? News is whatever new information you care about. For one person news is that Mugabe is still in power. For someone else, this blog post is much bigger news. The magic is that right now, you decide what news is.
But NVDL isn't a News and Politics blog. The newsy stuff that I do blog about is part of the disciplined application of logic - saying, hey, let's cut away from the Britney Spears tabloid stuff (I get that it's fun and fascinating some of the time), but we really need to apply ourselves to some cogent problems. We really do need to focus on some impending issues of our time.
NVDL has a lot of photography. It started out with Google's images, but now I try to use as many of my own as I can get. I'm trying hard to increase the proportion of personal anecdotes and insights. And then news - much of it is random but often along the topics of business, economics, and energy issues.
NVDL is also about health, and an intelligent, conscious approach to living. Sorry if that sounds conceited. It's a sincere effort, and if you buy into it, it's easier to appreciate.
While I understand the blogging thing a bit better, I see it as primarily PR (at least for me) in one sense. I like to believe that when I'm sleeping at night, someone in Poland or Belarus is learning something new and valuable. The stats of course prove otherwise. I've started to learn that if you really want to change the world, focus the minimum amount of attention on 'everyone out there'. They are not going to change. All you can do is change yourself. I keep forgetting that - sorry.
Occasionally I do publish 'self-help' save the world type stuff, and I experience Jerry Maguire moments - here's a perfect example. But a lot of the doomsday stuff is not for you, it's for me. It is to remind me of what is really happening. If you don't already know, we are in a lot of SHIT. God knows most people out there are sleepwalking through their own cottonwool worlds. There is a lot we can do in our personal world's. Thus my personal anecdotes are not as self-indulgent as they seem; they are my take on how to make sense, how to be a little bit logical about living in a mad, fucked up world. If we're not going to change our habits, let's at least start THINKING and TALKING about changing. Let's just start somewhere. This blog does that.
Exercise is a great place to start. When you respect yourself enough to take care of yourself, it's easier to start caring about the integrity of others, including other things. This blog is also about exercising ideas, and see what the uptake is.
In terms of South Africa's blogging community, I guess it is still young and naive and reactionary. I don't blame too many people for not going there(or staying here) . A lot of people are looking for attention; a lot of people want their voices heard. A lot of people don't deserve a second glance. I notice Mushy Vomit on Piles of Dogshit won 2 awards at South Africa's blogging awards, and a couple of other blogs also won multiple awards. Sorry, I'm not quite sure how the logic was applied there. Some of the shortlisted candidates...anyhoo - enough said. And as long as this is the case I am quite happy not be considered part of SA's blogging 'elite' community. I'm a fringe blogger, an independent, a wild card, a loose cannon, a boy on a bike with a rocket strapped to his back.
What I am focussed on right now is my upcoming trip to Seoul. I am so excited about seeing where their blistering broadband has taken the most wired country in the world while I've been away. I've received agreements to do stories for at least 3 magazines (one with a circulation in SA of over 2 million), and my earlier commitment to publish one magazine story every 2 months is still right on schedule.
As for this website, I aim to reach 100 000 page impressions by the end of this year. Each week that I consider this websites' stats, the more I am convinced that the numbers actually mean nothing. What matters is the quality and value of the content, of the writing. And an awareness of the numbers starts to influence and manipulate the content in ways you really don't want to go (tabloid garbage mushy-peas waste-of-time stuff).
I'm also chuffed that this site has been able to promote not only my writing but some of the beautiful models I have met and photographed. Roxanne is one example of someone I've given a bit of a hand to - she's been selected for Sport's Illustrated Beauties of Sport, and that was a direct result of my efforts. Obviously, she is a damn strong, damn attractive girl, so it didn't take much more than recognising that and contacting the right person. I'm already receiving calls to do photography for stuff like the Samsung competition. Websites contact me on a daily basis asking me for stock.
In time I hope to be able to leverage some of the work published here in order to twist a publisher's arm. I have something like 5 or 6 manuscripts waiting to be published. 2 I have very high hopes for. As this site becomes more successful, hopefully (but I have to say, I don't place too much hope in this) editors will become somewhat less dismissive of my story offers/pitches.
Photography has emerged as a passion I probably enjoy more than writing. The color, the outdoor aspect, the social side. In the end though, words and images are what I'm about, hence my business card carries the epithet: photojournalist.
Behind the scenes I am cycling, some swimming and running. It has taken a while to build up rock solid motivation, but it is back, and it is a good feeling. A few months ago I weighed 89kg. Right now I'm nudging 80kg. I will be training through this winter, and hope to design a set of kick-ass ROCKETBOY/NVDL cycling clothes later this year.
For my small little family of loyal visistors - I appreciate your attention and follow-through tremendously. To you in Canada, Cape Town, PE, Bloem, Singapore and Seoul - I know who you are and thanks. I know I have a lot of random traffic from the US, often outnumbering the SA flocks...I hope to see you here all the way through to 100 000 and way beyond that... I believe very strongly that each successive day demonstrates why we need to apply logic, discipline and virtue. Why? Because it is lacking in the world, and this lack is so chronic it is creating a global emergency. What may save us is our connection/s to nature. We must re-connect with not only the creatures and organisms that swarm visibly (and invisibly) around us, but also to our own true natures. When you do I hope you will revel in your journey with me ;-)
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